Phoenix Wright: Phantom Attorney
by Black Scepter
Summary: AU set in between JFA and Trials. After an incident during a trial, Phoenix finds himself bonded with the spirit of deceased young lawyer: Leo Lionheart. As Phoenix dives into the mystery of this young lawyer's tragic death, he finds himself a target of those who want the details kept quiet. With the ones he loves caught in the crossfire, these two must work together to stop them.
1. Prologue: One's End is a New Beginning

Phoenix Wright: Phantom Attorney

* * *

 _ **Prologue: One's End is a New Beginning**_

 **Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump.**

 _It's...getting really hard to see. My chest hurts. There's a lot of blood, is that my blood? It's getting the floor all dirty...I don't think the court has enough paper towels to clean this up...yeah, they're gonna have to get a mop..._

 **Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump.**

 _What happened...where is she...? D-did she make it out? It's so hard to see. My chest is feeling cold. I'm losing feeling in my hands, I...I can barely grip the gun. Wait. I don't have a gun, do I? No wait, I stole it from my shooter...no...no I didn't...what am I holding?_

 **Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump.**

 _Oh...it's a nine. That makes so much sense now. Wait. No it doesn't. Why am I holding the number nine? Is this what I grabbed? I...don't remember owning a number nine. I can't feel my chest. I see something green. Is my blood green? No, that's stupid..._

 **Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump.**

 _Is she safe...? I don't care about me...I just need to know...is she safe...?_

 **Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump.**

 _There's so many things I wish I could say. I can't see. It's so dark._

 **Thu-Thump.**

 _...Is this how I die...?_

 _ **Thump.**_

…

And he saw nothing but darkness, darkness that was briefly punctuated by a glowing green shaped into the number nine. That light glowed so very briefly too, illuminating the dipping sun of the courtroom...even against the bright crimson of blood. Right up till the clock struck zero and soon the room was engulfed into an explosion of fire and rubble. Burying that green light into a deeper darkness into which no one could ever discover. Resting beneath a grave of brimstone and smoke.

And then the green light too, faded into darkness.

* * *

 _ **10 Years Later**_

 **BE-BEEP! BE-BEEP! BE-BEEP! BE-BEEP!**

 _ **SLAM!**_

Phoenix groaned with deep disgruntled disgust as his probably dented alarm clock, which moments ago was screaming at him with ear shattering shrilling beeps. He looked over his bedstand and into the barely rising sun of L.A., now coming up over the horizon he wished it would kindly shrink back down and never come back up. He had stayed up late, he knew he shouldn't have but he didn't have much of a choice. Phoenix slowly pushed himself out of bed, feeling his body demand he relieve himself of everything that was built up throughout the night he used the restroom. After combing and styling his hair he slowly discarded his night clothes and began fumbling for his suit and tie, which was kept in the spot he always had it but he was so out of it he had more issues than usual. He grabbed his clothes and hopped into his blue dress pants, buttoned up his shirt and was heading to the mirror so he could tie his tie...when he realized his pants were backwards and his shirt misbuttoned. He sighed, undid the buttons, hopped back out of his pants to right them forwards and once he was properly dressed he then did his tie. Once he was dressed to his liking he stepped from his bedroom and to the main room of his one-bedroom apartment.

It was his student apartment, that he ironically got long after he stopped being a student. It was a student apartment to a college that didn't quite exist, the building was bought up and remained an apartment building...just upscale the price of living. Too much for a starving artist...but apparently just enough for a starving lawyer? He never really understood why it worked, he just kind of guessed the owner either took pity on him or needed tenants. He stepped from the narrow hallway into the small living room, on the circular table was his cell phone and a note. He turned on the lights, wincing as he did, and picked up the note on the table.

 _Dear Nick,_

 _Morning you lazy fart! I knew you'd be a slow start in the morning, so I broke into your phone (seriously change the password) and put some 'wake up songs' on your phone. Just open it up and hit play! I know you'll like it, I picked songs from your era you old man._

 _Also, thank you for taking me out. It means a lot to me. I'll see you at the office._

 _Maya_

Phoenix wouldn't have usually stayed up so late, but his assistant kind of made it impossible. Maya Fey, the sister of his deceased mentor Mia Fey, had returned to L.A after a month away for recovery. Having barely survived being held hostage by an assassin, she and Phoenix felt it would be best to be with people she knew and loved. So she went back to Kurain Village with her cousin Pearl. She originally said a week...well a week soon became a week and a half, which then became two weeks, and so on. Finally, after a month during their weekly phone calls she said she wanted to come back to L.A. He could recall that conversation as he stumbled into his kitchen to turn the coffee maker on, for it was in this kitchen that he heard the news of her return.

* * *

" _You're coming back?" he asked her, stopping mid-putting bread into the cabinet. "Really?"_

" _What's with that tone? Do you not want me back?" Maya replied back with faux offense._

" _Maya I'm serious." Phoenix responded, closing the cabinet doors. "I want you back I do...but I also want you to come back when you're ready. Are you ready?"_

 _There was silence on the other end and Phoenix thought they disconnected again, he waited for a second to see if the call would drop. When the call didn't drop he hesitantly spoke into the phone._

" _Maya? Did you hear me?"_

 _Her reply was quiet, "I heard you."_

 _Phoenix internally gulped at that, she didn't sound ready to him in fact she sounded the complete opposite of ready. He was going to open his mouth and say something, assure her she could take all the time she needed before she could come back. But before he could say a thing, it was if she read his mind, for her voice spoke back gentle yet resolute._

" _I want to be back with you again."_

 _Phoenix nearly dropped the carton of milk, the sentiment was so strong it floored him. "Y-you do?"_

" _You're my friend Nick. Always have been...my time with you has been the best two years of my life, of course I want to be back with you again. I love Kurain, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing but training here and when I'm with you I feel that I'm doing something real and important. I have a purpose with you."_

 _Phoenix wanted to cry, he really did, he thought his close friend was happier in Kurain and would heal better but to hear her heart pour out to him made him value his friendship with her. He did miss her too, the office was quieter and a little more cold with her out of his life._

" _...Okay, if you feel you're ready then I would love to have you back. Do you still have your apartment?"_

" _Yes. I already called ahead and let them know I would be coming back. Don't worry."_

" _When do I not?" Phoenix joked, taking the brown grocery bag and folding it neatly to set in his recycle bin._

" _You keep worrying like that you will be an old man before you're thirty." Maya jabbed, letting Phoenix know that the Maya he knew was still there deep down. He laughed at that one as he sat down on his couch, grabbing the remote for the TV with a sigh._

" _I'm already one Maya, you've let me know that a hundred times."_

* * *

 **BEEEEEEP!**

The beep of the coffee maker snapped Phoenix from his memory as he fumbled over to the small coffee jug and poured half a cup of black coffee in his cup. Topping it with two teaspoons of sugar and creamer he took a sip and gave a reinvigorated sigh. He looked down to his phone and with fumbled movements undid the pattern lock and the phone opened up to a music player, with the words 'NICK'S MORNING PLAYLIST' plastered right in front of him. He shook his head and pressed the play button, after a minute or so of trying to load he paused the player to let it buffer up. He took another sip of his coffee, waited a few more seconds, then pressed play.

" _Morning, today's forecast calls for blue skies..."_

Phoenix frowned as the voice was followed my a keyboard rhythm as _Mr. Blue Sky_ started to play from his phone speakers. He frowned. This song came out in the late 70's...twenty or so years before Phoenix was even born. He took a long sip, trying to decide of Maya was mocking him or really had no idea when he was born. He let the song play though as he sat down and poured some cereal in a bowl, added milk and sat at the small table in the kitchen. He was never really a music with a meal kind of guy, but he felt he could make an exception for Maya's sake. He let the song play on to the end, finishing his bowl of cereal he was sitting it in the sink to clean when the music stopped and his phone rang. He looked over to it as the phone gave off the most generic of ringtones, he slid the phone over to him and saw Maya's face on it and hit the green phone button. He put the phone to his ear and sighed.

"You know that song debuted in the 70's right?"

" **Huh? Oh! You listened to it? Make you feel all nostalgic?"**

"No Maya, I was born long after that song was popular. But thank you for the thought, it certainly made breakfas-"

" **Nevermind that! I got us a case!"**

Phoenix stopped cold mid wash, the phone which was nestled inbetween his ear and shoulder slid a bit before he caught it with his wet hand. "A case? What case?"

" **A murder case! Somebody was arrested for murdering the CEO of that insurance!"**

"What insurance?"

" **No, THAT insurance. You know, That Insurance? The one in the news that got into that health insurance scandal?"**

Phoenix frowned a bit, he felt that if this company was that lazy with their name they deserved all the scandals. "O-okay, what about them?"

" **Their CEO was murdered! And they're saying our guy did it!"**

Phoenix spluttered at Maya's excitement, "W-wait wait, OUR guy? Maya, you didn't take the case already did you?"

The silence on the end was answer enough, he groaned loudly and dried his hand off. "Okay okay, when is the trial? Maybe we can have sometime to investigate, I'll head to the office in a bit and we can go over it."

" **Well...about that..."** Phoenix suddenly had a cold shiver down his spine. **"Actually you should get to the office soon...and by soon I mean now...and by office I mean the courthouse."**

That cold shiver? Just became an ice bucket challenge all over Phoenix's body. All he could think now was that he was hoping he was so tired he imagined what Maya said.

"Maya...when is the trial?"

" **Oh let's see...it's uh...in two hours?"**

Phoenix dropped his phone, he could hear Maya call out for him but it took him a second or so before he could get to his phone again. "IN TWO HOURS?!"

" **I just got the call moments ago! They needed a state appointed attorney, but he wasn't answering so they called us and thought we could take it. I said we could since I didn't think you had work recently! See, I'm thinking ahead."**

Phoenix had a really hard time containing the shock and anger that was coursing through him right now. "Maya...have we been appointed a Public Defenders case?"

" **Yeah, they gotta pay real good right?"**

Good probably wasn't the best word, but it wasn't terrible. Phoenix did need to money, L.A was expensive as all hell and he barely made ends meet. Though he was coursing with so much anger about being shoved into a case that he had no preparation for...and in two hours! Which meant in order to make it in time he had to leave...now!

"We'll talk about you taking cases for me, I'm on my way now, tell...um...our client I'm on the way!" he yelled as he rushed out of the door.

" **Courtroom seven!"** he heard Maya call out as he ran down to the front of the apartment, he turned his phone off and quickly undid his bicycle lock. Pulling the old bike from it's spot and pedaling as he was pedaling away from a forest fire. He pushed himself into the city that was beginning it's day, rushing to a court case he had no time to prepare for and no idea on what to expect.

...if only he knew.

 _To Be Continued in..._

 _ **Turnabout Awakening**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Seven Seconds**_

* * *

 _Author's Note_

Hello to all new. I hope you enjoy my little AU story, it's been a long time since I wrote something for Phoenix Wright and I'm eager to return to it. I humbly offer my little tale to spend your days with, I hope you enjoy.

Now. I need to address those who may be returning. Welcome back. What does that mean to those who are new? Well... you see. This story is a remake of the first fanfiction I ever wrote: Revenant Lawyer. I wrote that story when was 16 and like every young and first writer I had it filled with every rookie mistake possible: inconstant storytelling, an OC who was Mary Sue-ish until halfway through the story a reviewer pointed it out to me and I managed to 'save' the character before it was too late. And some really...well...weird stuff.

Really weird stuff. Revenant Lawyer readers will get it. You know what parts I'm referring to.

Like an idiot, I misunderstood the concept of 'remake' and tried to do a remake...RIGHT after I finished the original. I learned since then. So, some of you may wonder...why is this a new story and not a new chapter on that attempt of a remake? I have an answer for that...time. Time has changed my style and things I want to do, it doesn't belong in that story anymore. Which is why I deleted it. I'm starting again, to those who came back from Revenant Lawyer, forget everything you knew. This is a very different story, there are familiar faces of course, but that's where it stops. This is a new beast. Hopefully a better one.

Come with me again on another mystery, I can't promise a masterpiece but I will certainly try to give you all a fun ride from beginning to end. Mysteries, conspiracies, romance, and a little bit of mysticism here and there. Spirits and danger and of course, lots and lots of Objections.

Welcome to Phoenix Wright: Phantom Attorney, I hope you enjoy it.


	2. Chapter 1: Seven Seconds

_**Turnabout Awakening**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Seven Seconds**_

Seven is a pretty significant number. Lucky number seven. Seven days in a week. Seven deadly sins. Seven minutes in heaven. The number seven has an impact on the world in some form or fashion. Whether or not we even recognize it, the number seven has this strange little habit of influencing someone's life and if we look too closely superstitious people would become obsessed by it. Phoenix wasn't really one of those people, despite everything he has been through he would never consider himself a superstitious person. Don't step on a crack, walk under an open ladder, breaking a mirror, he never understood those things. He was a man firmly in the world of logic and evidence...which occasionally gets shaken up whenever he's around his assistant. She had a habit of doing that, between summoning the spirit of his long deceased mentor and giving him a spiritual talisman that allows him to see people's secrets Maya really shakes his world up. Today she was doing more than shake it up, she was making him rush for it. Which was a good thing that between the two of them he was more built for it. Despite his burger loving assistant's jabs, Phoenix wasn't actually in terrible shape. When your mode of transportation is a bicycle it tends to have long lasting effects, such as keeping a twenty five year old man in great physical condition. If most people had to pedal from their place to the district courthouse, they'd be a doughy mess of air and wheezes. Not Phoenix though...he was only SORT OF a breathy doughy mess. He stumbled to the front of the courthouse, with maybe ten minutes left to spare, shoving the bike in the public bike rack and locking it in hurriedly. He then huffed and puffed his way into the courthouse. He was making his way to courtroom three when he stopped.

 _Maya said courtroom seven right? Wait, not THAT courtroom seven?_

Courtroom seven. The courtroom that was never to be a courtroom. Ten years back there was a terrible attack on the courtroom, an explosion wiped everything to smithereens. He was only fifteen when it happened, having not really developed an interest in law as a fulltime career as much as a part time fancy, so he didn't remember a whole lot. Just that there was an explosion and they pulled a body from it, beyond that he didn't really know too much. As he made his hurried dash to the waiting rooms for courtroom seven he stepped in the double doors wheezing and breathing.

"I finally ma-"

"BOOOM!"

Phoenix screamed at the voice and tried to step back as he was slowing to a stop, the resulting movement caused him to fall backwards on his ass. He looked around and what he saw caused him to do a massive double-take. There was a guy there, maybe about his mid-thirties, wearing a wife-beater and ripped shorts. He had a small tuft of hair on his head and that was it. Everything else was covered in black dirt, as if something just splattered black grease all of his body he stared at Phoenix with a manic, joyous expression in his eyes.

"Oh god take what you want!" Phoenix was grabbing for his wallet and throwing it at the guy in an attempt to appease his would be killer. Who looked very confused, but took the wallet regardless.

"Nick?"

Maya Fey appeared in, having been covered by the scary man's imposing frame. She looked at Phoenix as puzzled as the man before him. "Why are you on the floor?"

"W-what?" Phoenix looked between the two of them and he frowned, "Wait...is this…?"

"Do you always scream when you meet clients Mr. Wright?" the man asked, he had quite the deep voice for a man with such manic eyes. He expected it to be higher in pitch. Phoenix slowly stood up and straightened out his jacket, feeling more whelmed to his overwhelm. Once he was slightly more presentable Maya skipped to the two of them and gestured back and forth.

"Nick, this is our client: Onyx Blackstone. Onyx, this is Nick."

Onyx Blackstone licked his lips, taking some of the black grease with him. Which caused Phoenix to wince, but Onyx seemed to not care - in fact he seemed to like it. Which only made Phoenix ick out just a little more, Maya didn't notice but then again Maya never seemed to notice.

"Nick? Why do you call him Nick?"

"Oh." Maya faltered, "Sorry, Nick is just his nickname that I call him. What I meant to say was: this is Mr. Wright, your attorney."

Onyx nodded, whether or not he understood was a different story. He stuck out a black grease smoldered hand, "Thank you for taking my case Mr. Wright, sorry about the introductory. I get a bit explosive when excited."

"N-no kidding…" Phoenix stammered, hesitantly shaking his hand hoping his hand wouldn't be smudged too bad. "So Mr. Blackstone, I uh, hate to be the bearer of uncomfortable news but I want to ask...what exactly happened?"

"Mr. Wright!" the court bailiff interjected, "The court is ready."

"I realize this is cutting it a bit close Mr. Wright, but I just want you to know...I know what it will look like in there, but I swear to you I didn't do it. I'm good enough at my job to know not to get someone hurt. Please Mr. Wright...I know I look odd and can be a bit...bombastic, but I wouldn't hurt anyone. Not even for my love."

 _My love?_ Phoenix thought, he knew absolutely nothing about this case and to be honest a huge chunk of him wished Maya didn't say yes. Yet, with that same thought because he knew so little about the case...how could say for sure this man was guilty? As he was thinking about this he couldn't help but think of Mia, so many years ago. He once asked her how she handled cases for the Public Defenders office, for people that were clearly caught for a crime but still needed a lawyer. He could almost recall her so vividly, pausing at his question with a sip of her tea and as she did. When she finished her sip she looked at him and said: 'everyone deserves a fair defense. You should always believe in your client, but even those who seem so unquestionably guilty should be able to have fair representation. That is what this legal system is built on, the balance of justice.'

Phoenix held onto those words as the bailiff escorted the defendant in, he didn't know what to expect (beyond a public defenders paycheck) but the one he did know is that he had to believe in his client. Believe until the evidence proved otherwise, believe in him because no one else would. That was the mantra Mia passed onto him, the one he would carry as he stepped through those doors and into courtroom seven.

* * *

Courtroom seven was kind of...a mess. The benches for the visitors were there, as well as the Judge's podium, prosecutors and defense tables but this courthouse has seen far better days. There were layers of dust on everything, step ladders everywhere and power tools laid about with a workman's lack of care. He and Maya took their spots at the defense's table, looking across the courtroom for a familiar sight: Prosecutor Winston Payne. This poor man has faced him twice in court so far and each time was abysmal defeat, yet somehow this man kept on coming back for more. He was already there when Phoenix and Maya stepped in, confident and sure of himself. The judge walked in some time after that, bald head gleaming as he stepped in. He slammed his gavel down on the stand and the courtroom fell silent, signifying the Judge was ready to begin.

"The trial of Onyx Blackstone is about to-"

 **BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGG!**

The loud roaring sound of a buzzsaw cut across the courtroom, followed by a massive shower of gray dust that sprinkled over everyone as if it was confetti. A deadpan expression crossed Phoenix's face as the loud buzzsaw ripped over their heads. Above them workers on scaffolding were busy with renovating the courthouse...as the court was proceeding. The Judge kept trying to speak, but the saw drowned him out each time. Finally when the saw stopped the Judge could finally speak, well after he wiped off the gray dust off his bald head.

"What is that infernal noise! Why are there workers here?! We have a court in session!"

"A-About that," Prosecutor Payne interjected meekly, "Apparently, the state has them on a tight deadline to find their work. The other courtrooms too are all dealing with cases…"

"Wow. There are other judges." Maya mused out loud. "I seriously thought for the past two years it was only this guy."

"...So we have no choice but to work with the noise, we were told they'd try to keep it down though…"

The Judge pondered this before he slammed his gavel, "Alright, we'll continue with the trial as long as they keep it down."

 _Does nothing bother this guy?_ Phoenix thought as he wiped the dust off his table. Prosecutor Payne coughed out some gray dust on his end.

"Alright, as I was saying. The trial of Onyx Blackstone is about to begin."

"Prosecution is ready Your Honor."

"The uh, defense is ready...ish." Phoenix confessed.

"Readyish?" The judge repeated, looking over at the defense's bench. "Mr. Wright, I know you are usually extremely unprepared and fly by the seat of your pants, but this is the first time you have ever admitted it!"

"What's this? The great Phoenix Wright isn't ready? Well so sorry Mr. Wright. The court doesn't have the patience to recite case details over and over." Prosecutor Payne gloated.

"...Actually Mr. Payne, if you could, I'm a bit unfamiliar with the case. Could you fill us in during your opening statement?"

If you ever wanted to see a live blow up doll deflate in real time, Phoenix just witnessed it from Winston Payne, the old prosecutor lost that momentary young swagger he had and seemed to shrink. He muttered, "Yes your Honor...okay..."

He cleared his throat, "The victim is-"

 **BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRIIIIIIIINNNNNG!**

Phoenix's eyes widened as the loud saws suddenly filled the courtroom, he could see Prosecutor Payne speaking...or well his lips moving, except any sound he was making was drowned out by the saws. The Judge was trying to call out to Prosecutor Payne to tell him to wait, but the Prosecutor seemed to be very into what he was doing. Making dramatic movements with his arms, facial expressions of menace and great sweeping motions. It would have been entertaining, Shakespearean even with the shower of dust...if they could hear a blasted word he was saying. Maya had covered her ears against the saw's noises, the Judge was slamming his gavel down in some futile hope that his tiny hammer would make a louder noise than the overhead industrial saws. Finally the saws stopped, whether or not they heard the Judge or not they stopped, just in time to hear Prosecutor Payne finish:

"-and that is why Onyx Blackstone is guilty of murder Your Honor!" he placed his hands on his hips to enunciate his dramatic point. "How was that, did that fill in the details?"

The silence that fell upon the courtroom was only more noticeable due to the lack of extremely loud sounds and the intense awkwardness between Prosecutor Payne and everyone else. Finally the Judge just seemed to give up, he shook his head and slammed his gavel. "Very well, we shall pull a 'Mr. Wright' today and just wing it. Prosecutor Payne, your first witness?"

Phoenix suddenly felt very insulted, more added on by Maya's light giggling, Prosecutor Payne looked extremely confused but sifted through his dust covered papers and held one up – pausing to cough a cloud of dust. "Detective Dick Gumshoe will give the first testimony."

The bailiffs moved to the back doors, shaking off a mountain of drywall dust as they brought a very confused and cleaner Gumshoe into the courtroom. It is a sad time when Dick Gumshoe is suddenly the cleanest person in the entire courtroom. He stepped onto the witness stand and looked about the courtroom, very aware of how clean he was in comparison to the crowd.

"State your name and profession for the record." Prosecutor Payne ordered.

"Detective Dick Gumshoe, I'm a detective." the broad short dark haired man answered, which caused Phoenix's face to meet his palm.

"Detective," the Judge said patiently. "You state your name first THEN your profession. Not your profession, then name, and profession again."

"Oh right, sorry Your Honor." Gumshoe apologized, "Let me try again: Detective Dick, I am a Gumshoe for the Police."

He looked so proud too as the entire courtroom had to take a second to realize what was off about that sentence, the Judge looked down at him with those familiar wide eyes of surprise.

"Detective...you don't actually believe your name is 'Detective Dick Gumshoe', do you?"

Gumshoe blinked, "Well I mean, everyone calls me that and I'm so used to introducing myself like that I just thought..."

 **Bam!**

The slam of the gavel, signifying the end of the Judge's patience, cut off the detective before he could continue. "Nevermind. We get the gist, Prosecutor Payne, proceed."

"Detective Gumshoe, you arrived on the scene of the crime after the body had been discovered and called in yes?"

Detective Gumshoe nodded, "Yeah. The CSI were beginning to do their work when I arrived, I was running a bit behind when I got there..."

"Could you please give the court your account of what you discovered on the scene?"

 _Great. I'm going in this blind, even more so than usual._ Phoenix thought, _I'm going to have to just poke holes and figure out what the hell just happened._

"Nick? You got this...?" Maya asked, "Cause I'm going to be honest: I didn't hear a single thing that was said during the overview."

"No. Best I can do is try to piece together what is going on and work from there." Phoenix frowned as Gumshoe cleared his throat to begin.

"When I got the scene it was quite the mess, but the CSI and crew had cleared enough rubble to get to the body. We took a picture of the scene and as you can see the victim died from a blow to the head. Most likely caused by the rubble falling on him. CSI concluded that the impact and trajectory matched the weapon the defendant had used, who was already held under custody."

The collective amount of blinking in the room could have only been better punctuated if they were all owls and said 'hoo' every now and then.

"Picture? What picture?" The Judge asked.

"Oh right!" Gumshoe nodded, pulling out copies of a photograph and manila folders and giving them to the bailiffs to pass to the benches. "That's what the CSI's took of the scene, that is also the autopsy report."

Phoenix took both items and looked through them, the photograph was taken at a top-down angle of an older man – with an obvious comb over that Payne himself wish he had. He was lying on his chest buried under a chunk of what looked like drywall and scrapped metal. Phoenix's eyes widened, this looked like the result of an earthquake but he didn't recall one being recorded recently. He didn't understand if this is how the man died, why was Onyx named a suspect? It made no sense to him.

"Victim died of a blow to the front of his head." Maya read to him, "consistent of a heavy impact injury on both front and back. Victim's name is 'the CEO'."

She frowned, flipped a few pages and her brow furrowed. "Um. Okay, wow, I feel sorry for this guy in highschool..."

"Why do we not have a name for this man?" The Judge asked after viewing the report.

"We're working on that Your Honor...it seems the victim made a lot of effort to bury his name and past, it's taking some time to get to it." Prosecutor Payne answered.

"Very well. Mr. Wright, are you ready to begin your cross examination?" the Judge asked.

"Erm, yes Your Honor." Phoenix nodded.

He had no real information to begin with, so the best he could do was try to pry more information from him through questions or presenting evidence. So he did what he always did, he took Gumshoe's entire testimony and he broke it down into smaller manageable parts.

 **1\. "When I got the scene it was quite the mess, but the CSI and crew had cleared enough rubble to get to the body."**

 **2\. "We took a picture of the scene and as you can see the victim died from a blow to the head. Most likely caused by the rubble falling on him."**

 **3\. "CSI concluded that the impact and trajectory matched the weapon the defendant had used, who was already held under custody."**

 _Okay, that's a start._ Phoenix thought, _Now let's go over each one._

 **1.** " **When I got the scene it was quite the mess, but the CSI and crew had cleared enough rubble to get to the body."**

 _Why was there rubble on the body to begin with?_

"Detective, was there an earthquake that happened recently?"

Gumshoe shrugged, "I don't think so. At least nothing that would take down most of the office."

 _Most of the office? So the rest of the building was unscathed?_ Phoenix thought, a puzzling answer for sure. He made a note of that, but continued onward.

 **2.** " **We took a picture of the scene and as you can see the victim died from a blow to the head. Most likely caused by the rubble falling on him."**

 _He certainly seems to be crushed by the rubble...nothing about this particular statement stands out..._

"Hey Nick, did the rubble land on the back of his head or the front?" Maya asked. When Phoenix gave her a confused expression she elaborated. "The autopsy says he got hit hard in the front and back, but, which blow killed him? The rubble landing on him or the impact to the ground?"

Phoenix mulled over that statement before turning to Gumshoe, "Detective, quick question. The autopsy report doesn't say which side of the injury sustained the heaviest blow."

"Um...no it doesn't, what does that matter...?" Gumshoe asked uncertainly.

"It matters because we need all the information, the more accurate the better!" Phoenix protested, he really had no reason as to why he needed specifics, but he needed more information.

The Judge nodded and turned to Detective Gumshoe, "Detective, do you know?"

Detective Gumshoe frowned, "I uh...I believe I heard them say it was the front of the head that received the heaviest blow."

The Judge frowned, "That is vague. The Prosecution will request a more detailed report."

"Y-yes sir, I'll get right on that." Payne stammered, quickly typing into his phone for the request.

 _I'll have to come back to that one, but looks like Maya bought us a bit of time._ Phoenix turned to Maya and gave an appreciative smile, "Good catch."

Maya's face flushed slightly, "Aww...you can make it up to me with some burgers."

 _And there goes my ten dollars...alright Phoenix mourn later, one last part._

 **3.** " **CSI concluded that the impact and trajectory matched the weapon the defendant had used, who was already held under custody."**

 _And there we get to the heart of the matter: how the hell is rubble considered a weapon?_

"Detective. Let me ask you a question, has the spectrum for 'murder weapon' been broadened to include rubble now? How does this rubble connect to my client?"

"Well I mean, he's the one who caused it." Gumshoe defended, "When he shot it and all."

"Shot...? Detective...what kind of gun shoots rubble out of it's barrel?"

"No gun. But the cannon sure caused it." Gumshoe responded matter-of-factually.

The confusion was so palpable it may as well have been the layers of dust, the Judge was the first to make this confusion verbal. "The...cannon?"

"Yeah...when he fired the cannon at the building from the street?" Gumshoe looked confused, he expected everyone to be familiar with the case. "From the float...? When he and his circus were preforming...?"

"Circus?" Phoenix and the Judge asked.

Now Payne was confused, "Your Honor, did you forget? It's like I said. Onyx Blackstone killed the victim when he shot a cannonball from the float on the street to his office."

Silence fell, only punctuated by the occasional light fall of dust. Phoenix couldn't believe what he was hearing, nobody seemed to be able to really.

"Wait...WHAT?!"

The court fell under loud chatter until the Judge slammed his gavel down to call order. "Order! Mr. Payne please explai-HACK HACK!"

The Judge's angry tirade was cut when he suddenly started coughing loudly, gray dust blowing about as he did he motioned for the bailiff to bring a cup of water from one of the tables. He did so and the Judge took a grateful drink, clearing his lungs a bit he set the cup down.

"Sorry about that. As I was saying: please explain as to why there was a cannon in the middle of the street?!"

"The defendant, Onyx Blackstone, works for the traveling Cascade Circus. They travel the U.S and preform in the streets. Onyx is the circus's pyrotechnic who manages the circus's fireworks and cannons." Prosecutor Payne explained.

"A cannon in the middle of the streets?!" The Judge exclaimed, "My word that sounds insanely dangerous!"

"The cannonballs are fake." Detective Gumshoe cut in, "I heard they're usually made of a really soft brittle material that shatters on impact."

"Mr. Blackstone, is this true?" The Judge asked.

"BOOM!" the loud voice of Onyx Blackstone shout out from the defendant's side, he slammed his fists on the table and sent dust around. "Yeah! My cannonballs are my masterpiece! When they fire out they explode against objects and release a shower of candy and confetti for the people below. They're totally harmless! They don't even leave dents on the buildings!"

"Oooh, candy?" The Judge's ears perked up, Phoenix was still lost on how exactly they had the permit to allow that kind of thing in the city streets. "That sounds like a fun show, my grandchildren would enjoy that."

"A fine show it may be Your Honor," Prosecutor Payne interjected, "however yesterday afternoon, one cannonball smashed into the building of Checkmark Pals."

"Checkmark Pals?" Phoenix asked.

"It is a Financial Consultant's Office, they advise people on how to spend their money and how to save for retirement." Prosecutor Payne explained. "Our victim the CEO is the...erm...CEO of the company. The circus preformed in the streets outside the building."

"This seems like an important detail." The Judge mused, "Detective Gumshoe, please amend your testimony to include the details about the candy-erm, cannonball."

Detective Gumshoe looked extremely sheepish, which made Phoenix feel a bit sorry for him: it wasn't exactly his fault that no one in the courtroom knew about the case, but as usual he took the brunt of everyone's anger. He was not envious of him.

"The victim was killed when a cannonball, fired from the street below, smashed through the office window and crashed the roof onto the CEO."

The others didn't catch it, maybe the dust and and noise threw everyone off their game. Or perhaps they needed Phoenix to remind them of the obvious, Maya caught it. Of all the things Maya misses, she caught this faster than the rest of the court. Perhaps some of Phoenix was rubbing off on her. She turned over to him with a winning grin, she reached her hand to the top of her head and held it there as if she was holding the brim of an imaginary top hat. She tipped it forward at him with a smile and a wink. She knew what he was going to do the moment Gumshoe finished adding the amendment to the testimony.

"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've been waiting for." she said with confident enthusiasm as Phoenix brought his arm around and extended his pointer finger.

"OBJECTION!"

With the sharp cry catching everyone's attention Phoenix turned to the Detective, "Detective Gumshoe. You said that the...cannonball fired from the street level pierced through the office?"

Detective Gumshoe had this look of unease, he knew every time he cried out that word he ended up looking stupid on the stand. "Yeah pal, it fired from the street going through the office window at a low angle and hit the roof causing it to collapse on the CEO."

"Yeah I thought that's what you'd say. But I'm sorry Detective, but cannonball is in another castle. Perhaps you weren't paying attention to my client's words: the cannonballs are fake."

"F-fake?" Detective Gumshoe repeated.

"Yes, they're fake. In fact I hear they're made of an extremely brittle substance." Phoenix responded, "Shatters on contact, do you know where I heard that from Detective?"

"U-uh..." Detective Gumshoe stammered, feeling something bad on it's way.

"I heard it from you Detective, no more than five minutes ago!"

Gumshoe's face paled white as he felt the eyes of the court fall upon him, he then put his head in his hands and let out an anguished wail. "Oh come onnnnnnnnn!"

"Detective! How could you make such an error!" The Judge cried out, "Even I knew the cannonballs were brittle!"

 _Oh really. So why didn't YOU bring it up earlier?_ Phoenix thought, but he pushed that aside to focus on his argument. He tapped the copy of the photo of the crime scene. "Detective, is your entire case of my client being the murderer based on this theory that a cannonball crashed into the victim's office and caused the roof to collapse? Because if it is something is collapsing, the Prosecution's case."

"Then," Prosecutor Payne cut in. "Let me prop it back up for you Mr. Wright. I present my evidence to the court."

Prosecutor Payne handed out copies of two photos, the first was a picture of inside the office with a shattered window overlooking the streets below. He could see parts of the collapse on the ground so it wasn't far from the body. The second photograph was from an angle to the roof, where a giant gaping hole of the roof was easily visible. Most likely over where the body was laying on the ground.

"I direct your attention to the giant hole in the ceiling and the shattered window. As you can see it overlooks the street below, at this time the cannonball was fired it smashed into the window and the roof above. Proof that indeed a real cannonball was used on the day of the incident!"

Phoenix and Maya poured over the photos, feeling the pressure on Phoenix began searching for things to try to blast apart the argument. Maya moved in a bit closer, putting the top bun of her hair under Phoenix's nose – who got distracted by the really nice smell of whatever shampoo she was using. Maya however was very focused.

"There's got to be something off about these photos Nick, right? I mean, Onyx said the cannonballs are fake...so if they are fake then there must be something in this photo that reveals it. We just need to-"

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix shouted.

Maya blinked, looking over at him who was leaning forward and full of confidence. "You saw something?"

"What?" Phoenix asked, his confidence wavered slightly.

"D-did you see something Nick?"

Phoenix paused for a moment, "I um...may have gotten a bit excited."

Maya's eyes widened and she wanted to slam her head into the desk, but couldn't because the Judge's full attention was on the two of them.

"Mr. Wright...we're waiting. What is your objection?" the Judge's eyes were showing impatience. Phoenix gulped, being headstrong was one of his best qualities but it could easily turn into one of his worst qualities. Phoenix quickly looked back between the two photos desperate to spot something to object to. As he grabbed the photos he sent up some dust from the table, causing Maya to cough a bit. Prosecutor Payne turned towards the bailiffs.

"Perhaps Mr. Wright and his assistant need a glass of water to cool their hotheads?"

Phoenix felt a fire spark in his gut from Payne chastising him and Maya, but as he repeated the sentence in his head a single word stuck out to him: glass. He looked down at the photo overlooking the street and sure enough he found his answer. He should have found it before he made the objection, but regardless.

"Your Honor, this photograph. It's missing a crucial detail that proves a cannonball came through this window. The glass."

"Hah!" Prosecutor Payne laughed, "Of course there is no glass, the window was blown apart!"

"Perhaps if you let me finish...or not, you'll figure it out soon enough." Phoenix smirked. "Your Honor, when you through an object through a window what happens to the glass?"

"Oh! I know this one!" Gumshoe's hand shot up, as if he was back in kindergarten. "the window breaks!"

"Well, yes that. But specifically, what happens to the glass? Or should I say: WHERE does the glass go?"

Prosecutor Payne's sass went away along with his confidence, he picked back up the photo and his face when sheet white as he was slowly catching onto what was happening. Phoenix smiled.

"It seems that the Prosecution has figured it out. I'll inform the rest of the court, you just stand there and sip a glass of water." Phoenix knew that last barb was unnecessary, perhaps unprofessional. But he mocked Maya. _You can mock me all you like Payne,_ Phoenix thought with venomous vigor, _but don't mock Maya. Not after what she has been through._

"If the cannonball went through the office window, there should be a spray of glass on the floor next to it. But look at the photograph. There is not a single piece of glass on that table, if the cannonball came through the window...then where is the shattered glass!?"

"No!" Payne shouted, he seemed agitated and a bit desperate. "No! I can prove it! I have a witness!"

"A witness?" The Judge asked, looking with apprehension.

"Yes, I have a witness who saw the cannonball crash through the office and crush the CEO!" Payne clarified.

"Prosecutor Payne seems a bit...intense doesn't he?" Maya whispered to him. "What's got him so agitated?"

Phoenix shook his head, he didn't know or cared at this moment – he was still a bit bitter about the earlier attack he gave. The Judge frowned and slammed his gavel.

"Very well, Mr. Payne go ahead and bring out your witness. But before we do I suggest you take Mr. Wright's suggestion and cool down. Your behavior is unfitting of your position."

Prosecutor Payne paused for a moment, realizing what was happening he cleared his throat and mumbled. "I apologize Your Honor...I'll go prep the witness."

"Thank you, the court shall here from this witness after we-"

 **CLANG!**

A brief loud noise tipped Phoenix off to look above his head and see pieces of drywall come down upon him and Maya, he quickly moved Maya out of the way and leaped to the side as a large chunk of drywall crashed to the ground. Sending clouds of dust everywhere. Phoenix could hear shouts, but he couldn't hear what was being said. He shook his head and looked at what nearly hit them, it looked like a chunk of the wall was weaker than the workers thought and must have collapsed towards them. As the dust billowed around Phoenix's gaze caught something that stood out, he reached out and brushed aside some dust and with widened eyes saw a green item shaped like the number nine, softly glowing. He knew what this was, it was a Magatama. Maya gave it to him and her cousin Pearl charged it with her spirtual energy, it was a talisman of sorts that allowed it's user to see when someone was hiding a secret. He used a lot last year to help him solve cases. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the one Maya gave him, it had a brighter shine of green and was glowing. When he pulled his own, the other Magatama seemed to respond and glow as well. Pulsing a bright green light in sync with his Magatama. He reached over and without thinking picked it up from the rubble, both Magatamas glowed brighter than ever before. He turned around, getting ready to push himself off of his knees and stand up when he saw someone behind him. There was this guy there, he was young...maybe late teens. Blond long hair that when down to the middle of his neck. He has bright green eyes and wore an all dark suit jacket and dress pants, his suit jacket was completely unbuttoned and he wore a bright yellow tie over his white dress shirt.

"Who are you?" Phoenix coughed. "Is Maya, my friend, is she okay?"

The boy looked down at him with wide eyes, _"You...you can see me?"_

When he spoke it was odd, he could hear him but there was a strange echo to his voice. Like he was in a large chamber. He held his hand out to Phoenix and walked towards him, as he stepped to him the moment he put his black dress shoes on the ground they caught flame. A bright green flame crawled up his body and surrounded this boy as if he was from some horror film. Phoenix expected to hear a scream, a shout of 'fire' even, but no scream came. Instead Phoenix got to his feet and tried to step back.

"H-how are you doing that? What are you doing?!" he asked as the boy stepped closer to him, as if he didn't know he was on fire. "Stay back! Stay back!"

Phoenix held his hand out to push him back, but the boy's hand grabbed onto Phoenix's wrist and the green flames intensified. Phoenix cried out as the green flames began to spread from the boy's body onto his clothes, he tried to pull away but the grip was tight. He was beginning to panic as a strange heat set over his body, then the entire body of the boy set ablaze in green flames. For some reason, the boy's expression burned into his mind: amazed, afraid...and yet hopeful? They were odd expressions to have as your body seemly was burning away in a bright green blaze. Those thoughts faded as the inferno of emerald flames crashed onto Phoenix. He screamed, who wouldn't? He screamed to the highest heavens as his body caught flame, trying desperately to put the fire out and yet it just burned brighter. He collapsed on the ground, writhing and shaking and as he did he stared at the ceiling. He was just starting to see the outline of people standing over him when suddenly his vision as small as a pinpoint needle. As if he suddenly plummeted down a large black tunnel in the middle of the courtroom. He felt light...sleepy...the burning pain that consumed him seemed to dull into nonexistence as he felt forcibly lulled to sleep. As the pea sized vision of the people around too started to go black, he heard a solitary voice call out to him.

" _Please...help me."_

 _To Be Continued in..._

 _ **Turnabout Awakening**_

 _ **Chapter 2: The Zodiac Boy**_

* * *

 _Author's Note_

I feel like at this point I have redone chapter 1 so many times it's automatic. This time around I tried to capture some of the elements that make a Phoenix Wright case: quirky characters, an odd premise and a couple of 'punny' moments. I did something with how testimonies play out that I wanted to do, rather than just try to recreate the game in text form.

The end of the chapter shows you a little taste of the spiritual mysticism. My goal is to introduce a brand of spirits and ghosts that aren't quite in the original games (with the exception of Spirit of Justice), but aren't extremely far fetched. Don't worry Phoenix isn't going to jump in an Impala and hunt demons. But I wanted something that fits in the idea of a world where ghosts and spirit mediums exist. The whole point of the story was to add a new element alongside the world of Phoenix Wright, something that compliments – maybe even shows a new take on it – but not to detract from what makes Phoenix Wright fun. I hope I can deliver a fun mystery with an over-arcing plot with a helping of ghosts, spirits and all the joys that come with it. But please, let me know what you think so far.

-Michael Fri of the Black Scepter team.


End file.
